


Play with me, my love

by energie_vie



Category: The Old Guard (Comics), The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Humor, Love, Mild Language, POV Nile Freeman, Post-Movie: The Old Guard (2020), Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:48:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26946949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/energie_vie/pseuds/energie_vie
Summary: "She knows she loves him, he's family, but she's starting to fallinlove with him as well and it's a bit scary, because the prospect of spending quite possibly an eternity with an old flame is anything but appealing. So she decides to take her time. She has enough of it."Booker and Nile fall in love and don't rush into things because they have all the time in the world. In the meantime, they play a game.
Relationships: Booker | Sebastien le Livre/Nile Freeman
Comments: 12
Kudos: 139





	Play with me, my love

**Author's Note:**

> I don't have much to say, except I'm shipping these two harder and harder :D
> 
> Title taken from Mama's Gun by Glass Animals.

They could be so much more, Nile knows it and she knows Booker knows it too. They click and they have the same self-deprecating sense of humour and many more things in common than she would have expected. She thinks it might be because they're closer in age. Immortal age, that is, because otherwise, he's definitely the oldest. (Andy and Quynh say they're not really sure how old they were when they first died, but definitely younger than 42.) Nile thinks the others might see it too and prefer to be discrete. But that's beside the point.

She knows she loves him, he's family, but she's starting to fall _in_ love with him as well and it's a bit scary, because the prospect of spending quite possibly an eternity with an old flame is anything but appealing. So she decides to take her time. She has enough of it. Booker, as with most other things, seems to be on the same page and somewhere between her starting to call him Seb and him always saving the seat on his right wherever it is they happen to be eating, they turn it into a game.

At first it's quite basic and innocent enough. She teases him about his _Frenchness_ and his sophisticated palate ( _'Nile, what Americans call croissants are a culinary abomination!'_ he exclaims with an appalled look on his face and although she agrees with him, she enjoys seeing him all worked up) and he teases her for some of her music choices ( _'Seb, how can you say all of his songs sound the same? You're clearly not listening carefully!'_ and she knows he's just pulling her leg).

Basically, they're like children at the playground who don't really know how to express their affection except through pulling pigtails and shoving each other. Soon enough, though, it gets boring. How much can you tease someone on the same two or three topics? Besides, messing with the others is also fun as hell, so they move to the next level: sickly sweet compliments.

_'Seb, dearest, stop pouring all that sugar in your coffee, you're sweet enough already!'_

_'Nile, sweetie, sing that song again, the one that makes you sound like a nightingale.'_

_'You should wear blue more often, Seb, it brings out your sapphire eyes.'_

_'I love watching you run, Nile, you look like a gazelle in the savannah.'_

And on and on it goes, each of them trying to be as ludicrous as possible, to the exasperation of the others. Quynh rolls her eyes so much that Nile's afraid they're going to get stuck in the back of her head, Joe and Nicky initially smile like proud parents but then it becomes too much even for them, so they huff annoyedly all the time and Andy just ignores them until one day she snaps: 'Will you cut it out already? I may have a sweet tooth, but you two are giving me diabetes!'. 

'I don't know what you're talking about,' Nile says innocently and struggles to keep a decent poker face. 'Seb?'

Booker just shrugs. 'No idea either.' His poker face is definitely better, she could take some lessons. Andy just throws her hands in the air and stalks out of the room.

Even the compliments phase gets old after a while, so they upgrade to innuendos. They're somewhere in Portugal in a two-bedroom flat arguing over sleeping arrangements, meaning who gets the bedrooms and who is left with the extensible couch that looks like it can barely hold one person, let alone two. Nile doesn't mind bunking with Booker, quite the opposite. However, the couch is not only small, but also lumpy, so she'd really like to get one of the bedrooms. She's considering what other arguments to make in their favour when Andy proclaims that "Rock, Paper, Scissors" will settle things once and for all. It's a personalised and more complicated version they have and she's never managed to understand the rules. All she knows is that Booker loses and they're stuck with the couch. 

'Damn it, Seb, why do you always go for scissors?'

Booker tries to look sheepish, but he's doing such a poor job that Nile narrows her eyes at the rest of her family while threateningly pointing a finger at Booker. 

'If I'm grumpy tomorrow and piss everyone off because I didn't manage to rest, it's his fault!'

Booker just scoffs and throws an arm around her shoulders.

'Come on, sweetheart, you know I'm a very well-behaved sleeper: I don't toss and turn, I don't thrash around if I'm having a nightmare, nor do I wake up screaming, I don't hog the blankets and I don't spread my limbs like an octopus. Trust me, you won't even feel me.' He's grinning like the Cheshire cat, so Nile feels it coming. 'Unless you want to?' he adds innocently. 

Joe chokes on his hot chocolate, Nicky, who is doing the dishes, turns his head around so quickly that it's a wonder his neck doesn't crack, Quynh stares open-mouthed and Andy raises a questioning eyebrow. Booker is still grinning at her and Nile realises how much of an idiot he is.

'Oh, fuck off!' She shoves him and gets up from the table, ignoring all other reactions. 'I'll take the left side. And you're banned from "Rock, Paper, Scissors" for the foreseeable future!'

The game they're playing is decidedly fun, Nile thinks. It's also getting more and more exciting.

'It's like a mating ritual,' she tells him one day while playing backgammon and Booker laughs so hard that tears spring from his eyes and he can barely catch his breath.

'Is he ok?' Joe asks from across the room where he is sketching. Probably Nicky, who is reading in an armchair. 

'I think so,' Nile shrugs.

'What did you say?' Nicky asks curiously. 

'I told him that he and I seem to be caught in some kind of mating ritual,' and Booker, who had just managed to calm down a bit, snorts and starts laughing again.

Joe and Nicky sport identical expressions: mouths slightly open, eyes barely blinking and when Booker notices them, he laughs even harder. 

'See?' He says while wiping his eyes and reaching for a tissue to blow his nose. 'That's why I love you.'

Nile's pulse stutters and she grins like a maniac but she plays it cool because they still have enough time. 'Yeah, yeah. Just roll the dice already.'

The game ends in Colombia. They've successfully brought down a drug cartel and now they're waiting for midnight in order to be able to leave the country via a private jet owned by one of Nicky's contacts.

'Did you know that most of my fantasies about you involve you crying for one reason or another?' Nile asks while plopping down on the couch on Booker's right side. It's become her regular spot and not just when they're eating. 

Booker gapes at her. 'Come again?'

'You heard me.'

'..the fuck.. Why?' He asks, shaking his head.

'I don't know. I guess I have a soft spot for men crying. But it has to be for a good reason.'

'Such as?'

'Frustration. Anger. Helplessness. At least that's why I think you'd cry.'

Booker smirks. 'Well, to your surprise and probably disappointment, the last time I cried was during a movie.'

'That works too,' she shrugs and he just laughs. 

'Admit it, you just want to see me cry.'

'Yeap,' Nile replies with a pop on the P.

'You're sadistic!'

'And you're fucking hot with bloodshot eyes. Sue me!'

Booker shakes his head in disbelief. 'This conversation is going in a very weird direction.'

'As do all of our conversations, actually. Especially the recent ones.'

'True,' he concedes. He takes a deep breath and then asks quietly: 'How much longer are we going to play the game?'

'Wanna stop?' Nile whispers. 

'Mhm.'

'Ok,' she agrees and leans forward to press her lips against his. It's like going to bed after an exhausting day, like drinking water when really thirsty, like coming home after a long trip. They pull back and just smile at each other and Nile thinks it was worth the wait. She knows Booker thinks so too. She doesn't know how long they stay there, just grinning stupidly and gazing adoringly at each other, but all too soon they're being snapped out of it by a stern voice. 

'Alright, you two need to stop eye-fucking each other and go get laid. You're driving us mad!' Andy is glaring at them with her arms crossed. The others are standing behind her, staring intently at them and Nile giggles because they all look like they're about to drop the most badass rap album in the history of music. She winks at Booker and then turn towards Andy.

'Who says we haven't?'


End file.
